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Snow pack levels at Mount Hood much lower than average, again

Snow pack sampled on Mt. HoodJulie Koeberle, a hydrologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, explains the Snow Survey program Dec. 30, 2014. Koeberly, and hydrologist Scott Oviatt, a program supervisor, took snow samples from a weather station at Timberline to measure water content.

Chances are the electricity to power any of your lights or electronic gadget got its start with snow or rain in the Pacific Northwest, depending on the time of year.

That's if your power originates from the Bonneville Power Administration. At least 80 percent of the electricity marketed and sold at wholesale rates by BPA comes from one of its 31 hydroelectric dams.

Jan. 1 marks the start of a five-month snow pack season. During the season, hydrologists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service measure snow accumulations and then predict how much of that snow will melt and flow into a river or tributary.

As of Tuesday, snow pack levels on the western slopes of the Cascades are far below 30-year averages, but hydrologist Julie Koeberle says it's too early to worry. Hydrologists monitor more than 300 stations in the state, including eight in the Mount Hood area.

Julie Koeberle and Scott Oviatt, both hydrologists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, measure snow depths and its water equivalent at a station near Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood Dec. 30, 2014. The conservation service begins its snow pack season Jan. 1 whey hydrologists monitor snow depths and then convert those depths water estimates for the region later this year. Tony Hernandez/The Oregonian

At the conservation service's station at the Timberline Lodge, for example, snow depths can reach up to 7 or 8 feet on average per day, she said. That typically translates to about 25 inches of water.

On Tuesday, hydrologists logged about four feet of snow depth. That translates to about 12 inches of water.

"We still have time to catch up to normal levels," Koeberle said.

This time last year, the snow pack was about the same, she said. Snowfall during the first three months of 2014 returned accumulation levels to normal, she said.

However, recent three-month climate projections for 2015 could paint a different picture.

"The odds have shifted in a direction to see above-normal temperatures across the Pacific Northwest," Colby Neuman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Tuesday night as he referenced information from the Climate Prediction Center. Precipitation is more difficult to predict, he added, but at this point the center predicts below-average levels on Mount Hood and areas north of it.

Despite low snow levels on the western areas of the state, snow and rain from rivers spanning Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming help fuel BPA hydroelectric dams within the Columbia River Basin, said Kevin Wingert, a public affairs specialist. BPA employs its own meteorologists who use data from the conservation services and other weather agencies, he said.

Other areas in the river basin have seen greater accumulations, he said.

"It's really early in the process," Wingert said. "These initial projections are helpful and allow us to begin the process to plan."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also predicts that the water supply should reach average levels at the Dalles Dam in 2015, he said.

Snow accumulations peak around April before the melting begins, Koeberle said. Not enough snow could mean less drinking water or irrigation water for farmers and others. Too much snow means risks of floods and rapid-flowing waters.

"I'm optimistic, but I'm also concerned because the weather service is calling for a 65 percent chance of a weak El Niño (next year)," she said. "El Niño for the Pacific Northwest generally means warmer and dryer weather, which wouldn't bode well for building our snow pack up on the west side."

L.T. Avants, a snowboarder from Lebanon, Ore., said he's just happy to see fresh powder despite the blistering cold wind as he sat on his friend's pickup truck Tuesday morning at Timberline. The weather service recorded wind chills ranging from -8 degrees up to 10 degrees with wind gusts ranging from 22 miles per hour to 56 miles per hour.

Avants has a season pass to the ski resort, and he hopes for enough snow this season to last at least 20 trips to Mount Hood.

"We've had fresh powder the last couple of days," he said. "So that's pretty awesome."